Greek Meatballs & Kale with Olive and Pepper Cauliflower Rice is one of the easiest and most delicious healthy recipes I've ever made!
On my way home from work, I asked my husband what he wanted for dinner. He replied, how about we use up the ground beef that's in the fridge? Okay, sounds good. I immediately think I'll go to the store and get ingredients to make a quick spaghetti sauce...but I don't feel like it! I want something really fast and easy that will cook in one pot, preferably the microwave. Oh yeah, I also need to use that head of cauliflower!
So, there we have it. I'm making dinner with ground beef and cauliflower as my main ingredients. Now, what flavor profile do I feel like? Cheeseburger and cauliflower "rice" bake? No. Mexican? No. Italian? No. This is going nowhere fast and I'm just about to scrap the whole thing when I think Greek or Mediterranean flavors would work well with ground beef and cauliflower!
I grab a few things at the store and home I go to hopefully create an awesome and EASY dinner recipe!
It goes a little something like this.
Bring groceries in, let dogs out, let dogs in, feed dogs, unpack groceries, let dogs out. Pour a glass of wine. Wonder why I didn't do that first? Pour a glass of wine that is. Let dogs in. Give dogs ice cubes...they LOVE ice cubes. Grab the ground beef out of the fridge. Let dogs out. I'm tired.
Look at the time! Jeff will be home any minute and I still have to shower, make dinner (an awesome and EASY Greek or Mediterranean dinner), eat said dinner AND get ready to leave for a birthday party at 8pm! Let Dogs in. Did I mention I was tired? Pour second glass of wine. Time to get to work.
I line my ingredients up and decide on the Pampered Chef Greek Rub for seasoning. Okay. Direction is good.
Now, the rest of the story comes together very fast, but without pictures...no time for pictures. Sorry.
Chop up cauliflower into small florets, use the Manual Food Processor to create cauliflower rice. Dump 3 cups of "rice" into the Deep Covered Baker. Coarsely process (medium chunks) olives and roasted red peppers in the Manual Food Processor. I love that thing! Dump into Deep Covered Baker. Add ½ of the Greek rub and ½ of the salt. Add olive juice and mix together.
In a medium size mixing bowl combine ground beef, egg, feta cheese, and the rest of the cauliflower. Add remaining Greek rub and salt. Mix well. Form meatballs using the medium scoop. Place meatballs on top of cauliflower rice. Microwave on High for 8-10 minutes. The meatballs will not be completely cooked at this point. Chop Kale into large pieces. Place on top of meatballs and microwave on High for another 5 minutes.
Jump in shower. Husband comes home. He lets the dogs out. Do you see a pattern here? Yell to husband from shower, "has the microwaved beeped?" Husband yells, "in 20 seconds". I yell back, "Taste the kale". Husband says quietly, "Kale, yuck". Shower is still running, I heard him. Did I mention I have supersonic hearing? I yell, "Taste the darn kale and tell me if it's wilted, but still has a slight bite". Okay, I didn't say darn. I'm still yelling. Husband doesn't have supersonic hearing. Husband yells, "It's really chewy". Shower off. Robe on. I come out to taste the kale. Yep, still too chewy. After the "yuck" comment, I had to be sure. I ask husband to put it back in the microwave for 3 minutes please. I said please.
Get dressed. Brush teeth. Makeup on. Dry hair slightly and braid. It's that kind of night. Yell to husband, "did the microwave beep". Not sure why I'm still yelling. 
Oh yeah, husband doesn't have supersonic hearing. I hear the microwave beep as husband yells, "yep". Dinner is ready! Let dogs in. Guess they are tired too. Take a sip of wine.
Our dinner looks amazing! Plate the kale and top with meatballs and "rice" mixture. Now for the final touches. Zest about a teaspoon of lemon of lemon peel (you only want the yellow stuff, the white stuff is bitter) & squeeze, using the citrus press of course, about a tablespoon of lemon juice on top. Best $20 ever spent! I've had my PC citrus press for 20 years...I'd say $1 a year spent is worth every penny to juice fruit with ease.
Hand almonds to husband to whack with the meat tenderizer. Have you seen that thing? It looks like a medieval torture device, but man does it do the job! Use the spiked end for tenderizing meat and the flat end for crushing nuts or pounding meat. Top with almonds. Snap a quick picture and EAT! Thankfully, I snapped that one picture or this post wouldn't exist and you'd never get to try the awesome Greek Meatballs & Kale with Olive and Pepper Cauliflower! You can thank me later.
Greek Meatballs & Kale with Olive and Pepper Cauliflower Rice is so good even my husband enjoyed the kale! Call for the dogs. Wait, are they out or in? Put dogs in crates. Grab purse. Tell husband it's time to go to the birthday party. We are only running a few minutes late. Not because dinner took too long. I couldn't find an earring. I obsessed a little too long. Okay, way too long. Never did find the darn thing. The End.
Oh, I forgot to mention. This dish is only about 413 calories per serving. Like I said before, you can thank me later. The End. For real this time.
Greek Meatballs & Kale with Olive and Pepper Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
- 1 medium head Cauliflower
- 16 black olives
- 16 green Spanish olives
- 3 tablespoon Roasted Red Peppers I used Mezzetta
- 2 tablespoon green olive juice
- 2 tablespoon Pampered Chef Greek Rub divided
- 1 teaspoon sea salt divided
- 1 lb ground beef 90/10
- 1 egg
- 2 oz feta cheese
- 4 cups chopped kale I used red leaf kale
- For the garnish
- 1 Lemon
- ¼ cup Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley
- 1 ounce Almonds
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Instructions
Cauliflower Rice
- Cut the cauliflower florets away from the stem, the florets should be about the size of a quarter. Using the Manual Food Processor, chop the cauliflower into rice size pieces. You should have 3 ½-4 cups of cauliflower "rice". Add 3 cups to the Deep Covered Baker. Reserve the remaining cauliflower for the meatballs.
- Add both kinds of olives to the Manual Food Processor and chop until they are broken up into medium sized pieces. Add Olives to the Deep Covered Baker.
- Add Roasted Red Peppers to the Manual Food Processor and chop until they are broken up into small to medium sized pieces. Add to the Deep Dish Baker.
- Mix in 1 Tablespoon of Pampered Chef Greek Rub, ½ teaspoon sea salt and 2 Tablespoons of green olive juice. Mix to combine all ingredients.
Meatballs
- Add the ground beef, remaining cauliflower, egg, 1 Tablespoon PC Greek Rub, ½ teaspoon salt and crumbled feta cheese to a medium size mixing bowl. Mix well (I used theMix N Chop). Scoop out the meat mixture using the Medium Scoop and form your meatballs. You will have between 16-20 meatballs. Place the meatballs on top of cauliflower in the Deep Covered Baker.
- Microwave on HIGH 8-10 minutes. The meatballs are not supposed to be fully cooked. Time varies depending on your microwave. In a 1200 watt microwave, it took about 9 minutes.
- While the "rice" and meatballs are cooking, roughly chop your kale. You want the kale to be about the size of a business card, it will shrink as it cooks.
- When the meatballs and rice are par-cooked, remove from microwave. Use oven mitts, the Deep Covered Baker will be hot. Remove lid and place kale on top. Return the Deep Covered Baker to the microwave and cook an additional 7-10 minutes or until the kale is cooked to your liking. I like mine wilted, but not too soft.:
- Divide the kale onto 4 plates or bowls and top with meatballs and cauliflower mixture. Garnish with lemon juice, lemon zest, crushed almonds & chopped parsley.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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